I was working on my dads truck today and the neighbor kid was hanging out (hes 14 and sheltered by his parents) and he was asking a lot of questions about my coupe so I asked if he wanted to go around the block and he wasnt sure at first but then I fired it up and he got all antsy, I cursed down to the dead end by my neighborhood and by that time it was worming up so I got on it and as it broke loose in second his eyes were as big as baseballs, when we pulled into my garage with it he couldnt stop talking about how much fun it was. I think he is hooked just as long as he doesnt tell his parents about the burnout lol. anybody have stories like this to share?
Yup. I got a young kid addicted to Willys Jeeps a few years ago. His older brothers wouldn't let him ride a four wheeler (bullyin' him) while I was checking fence at my dad's ranch. I told the kid to hop the fence and i'd give him a quick spin in my Jeep if he was cool with that. He hopped in and I drove it through the stock pond. Water was up to the bottom of the windshield and over the hood. The four wheeler kids were awe struck to see this old '49 CJ2A bone STOCK Willys take water over the hood like it was nothing, and putt out the other side. They wanted a ride and I told 'em I had to go. I think that made the kids day LOL.... Fast forward a few years and I run into him again. He said he's been looking at CJ2's and Willys pickups with his dad to fix up for highschool. Ofcourse I offered to help him and his old man work on 'em if they wanted me to. It's fun getting young folks addicted to old cars of different genres. Luckily I had my father and grandfather to get me strung out on these things. Other kids and young people sometimes don't have that and need someone else to introduce them to it.
hahaha.... +1 for the dark side. He can still be presidente one day... he'll just have a bitchin' ride.
Dunno about too many kids, everyone I knew was in hotrodding before I joined the Army but there are a few hotrodders in the Army after riding in my cars. I'm pretty happy about that. Doc.
My first ride in a heighbors hot rod... It was a T-bucket... I was about 11-12 yrs old... I thought I was sooooo cool. I dropped my arm out the side of the body... letting it swing in the rushing air... until,.... fffffuuummmphhhhhh.... the palm of my hand hit the rear tire... Ouch... that was real cool, huh? But, I've been wanting to build fenderless hot rod ever since. I hope to give a kid a chance at a ride in a hot rod, just as I did from that neighbor all those years ago...
Yes, many of us have done that! And if you havent you should!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We need to let the video game generations know what the fuck a rush these cars are!
I got hooked pretty much the same way.I've always been into hotrods,untill I took a ride in a buddy of mines A-bomb.Shit I was hooked,and I knew I had to build one.Now its the funnest thing I've ever owned Pat on the back to ya,for brightining up that kids day,you know he'll never forget that
My wife went to a cub scout meeting to help out ,wrong she gave every scout a a ride around the block.
i did a similar thing with the kid across the street. the day i got my 48 home i threw him the keys, a few of his friends and i rode with him. my only regret was when we pulled back up to the house a couple of young (his age) hotties were there, i should have let him take the hotties by himself. oh well later jim
10-12 weeks ago, a goldchainer gave me a ride in his cookie cutter red coupe... we got to a stop light and it died and he started cussing and trying to start it again, it wouldn't start for a little bit so he got irate and called AAA... after about 3 minutes, he cranked it again and it started and we were off... I decided right then and there that I would have a hot rod that I could drive, abuse, and diagnose any problems that came up...
Just about like my first ride in a hot rod [1949]. the JD hot rodders down the street were tuning up thier 34 coupe. My buddy an I jumped on our bikes and rode over to watch. One of the guys asked if we wanted a ride. Man wotta ride , sitting in the jalopy on a some springs and an indian blanket, peeling out with a roaring flathead we were hanging on and banging our heads against the back window when he hit second! Havnt been sane since.
my first ride in a hot rod was me getting to drive Bob Bleeds 34 ford pickup. and that was only last year. he gave me shit for going so slow, so next time i made sure i got on it a little.
I was born 1 week after my Dad's best friend took my mom for a hell raising ride in his blown 409 powered 32 coupe in Janruary of 1962. My dad took me for a pass in his record holding L-79 66 Nova once in 1968. He was working at the track and had to cover a potty break for the starter. He parked the car in front of the tower while covering for the starter. When his competitor came up he told me to sit on the floor. As soon as he took off up I came and watched out the back window as he waxed the shit out of a 68 AMX, coolest thing I ever saw. I know it sounds far fetched but it's true. I took my son, now 10 to his first race when he was 3 months old, I was racing my street rod at a nostalgia race at Atco. He's now my crew cheif on my Gasser and I'm his crew chief on his Jr. Dragster.
Never gave a kid a ride in a hot rod, but my first ride in an O/T big block chevelle hooked me for life. I will never forget this part( i was 10 maybe and never been around cars other than mom's caprice) .. we were sitting still and that car was barking thru the dual's.. one foot on the gas the other on the brake.. i wasn't sure what was going on. HE says "Look at the back window!" Only smoke. haha. hooked for life! JD
Kids in my neighborhood are definitely not into cars, they were playing basketball a few weeks ago, I asked for help moving my pickup box off my 53 truck, they just looked at me like I was from another planet and kept on playing.... maybe when the truck is done, I will give them a ride in the bed and take a corner too fast.......
I just came in from talking to the neighbor across the street. The kid that lives there is 11 and is an absolute car fanatic. He can quote H.P. figures and all types of stats from modern performace cars. He likes my rods and has be asking for a ride. I asked his dad if tomorrow it would be O.K. to take the kid for a ride in my '40 pickup. Dad was cool with it so tomorrow I ruin the kid. I already taught him the difference between a R** Rod and a traditional car. Tommorow he learns what a BB ford feels like in a 2000# vehicle.
To help out with this tough economy, My wife got licenced and started running a daycare from 7am -6pm. Hotrod class ( not that I'm qualified to teach) for these toddlers and grade school kids usually start at about 4:30pm when I get home and raise the garage door. I have a couple of 2yr olds including my own doing everything ( with supervision of course) from just firing up the pnuematics, tack welding, and my all time favorite, sanding the first hotrod ride should be coming soon. I'm hoping that they all become presidents someday..... .....of their respected car clubs.
Heres my reversed option of that story. Around 15 years ago I had a elderly neighbor whose had son (58-60 maybe) and he was always asking questions about what I was working on or doing to my rides this week or time when he would visit her as I was always outside tinkering. I had built a small block 408 for my 67 Impala with a 12 bolt 4.10 posi,and loose 10" 3500 stall for my daily driver and was trying to get my 327 68 nova drag car finished at the same time. He walked to the fence and asked me when the Nova was gonna be ready so he could take a ride. I told him it would be a little longer but if he wanted I would give him a little ride in my daily driver. He had heard the car before only and knew it sounded ok to him,but he had said he used to drag race in the river bottoms no so far from where we lived and that there were some pretty stout cars then. I didnt doubt him because my dad used to race those same bottoms but this guy wasnt the hot rodder,wrenching turning kind so I knew he probably hadnt ridden or drove anything faster than a 14-15 second ride. I told him to hold on a few minutes and I would clean up and take him for a spin in the Impala. Naturally he waited with a smile. I got out and headed for the 67 Impala,as he was headed around the fenced gate to join. The car had a SS console with a Hurst Quarter stick shifter and frt Monte Carlo swivel buckets installed. I started it up and let it warm a bit so he could listen to the rumble and thump of the cam which perked hum up a bit but he tried to keep him self composed like he didnt want me to think he thought much of it. I backed out of the drive and proceeded to the main street to take us to a blvd which would be empty at that time of day. Now this man was around 6'0" and maybe 225 lbs or so,and I was 6'2" and 195 lbs just so you know his size.I pretty much idled it down the street a few blocks til we got to the blvd to make a blast in and all the while you could see the expression like he wasnt so sure the ride would even bring a smile to his face.Idleing down the street with a loose 3500 stall sounds wicked by he way. As we got to the blvd at the intersection to make my right turn,he said "Well it sounds good"....I said yeah,much better than it runs for sure.I pulled the right turn onto the 5 lane blvd and took it to about 25 mph as I watched his face and body next to me in the other seat,then I planted the throttle which made the rear tires blow away while the frt suspension maxed out and the car was skating around fighting for traction all while shifting into second then third gear pulling very hard.I watched both his feet come off the floor board as his body sunk into the high back Monte buckets and a huge smile came to his face before hollering OK OK OK as I told him we just hit 105 before letting out. He told me that was nothing like he had ever felt and that he had thought he had been in some pretty impressive cars way back when he was doing it.He couldnt quit shaking as we pulled back in the drive way nor quit talking about how much that set him back in the seat asking how much horsepower and toque it had. I smiled all the way home from the little drive as I knew if he liked that he would have appreciated a dragstrip launch after a big burnout/vht/slicks. I just liked the fact that an older person who had dabbled in older street/drag cars could appreciate newer style street/drag cars after not being around any for such a long time.He always gave me a huge thumbs up each time he came to visit his mom next door and seen me tinkering........wished I could have heard the story he told his friends about his little ride in an old heavy ass impala daily driver street car. specs .040 flat top 400 small block worked 461 double humps netting 10.0-1 comp .480 lift .288 duration hyd cam RPM Edel intake 750 DP Holley 12 bolt posi 4.10s loose 3500 10" stall sticky dot street tires
I have helped mess up 2 kids...Last year a kid I know a church got his license and he always liked my truck so I gave him the keys and let him take it around the block. He spun the tires and had a great time. I got my 33 running and went and picked up a young man and we went for a ride, he had a grin from ear to ear. Dropped him back at his house and he called me to say his mom wanted to know who he was running around with that had drove like that.....He is into hotrods now...
I been hooked since my dads buddy stopped over with his 67 Vette roadster, 427 tri-power. This was in the late 60's and I was small enough that I sat on my dads lap in the passenger seat. We were just goin for a little ride until we hit the entrance ramp for Rt.287. At this point he gets on it hard. I still remember feelin' like I was in a rocket ship and thinking nothing could accelerate this fast. Sure was a far cry from dads 55 Ford pickup.
I've been blessed enough to have grown up around older guys with hot rods and customs that accepted me as one of their own so I got to ride in quite a few hot rods when I was young. My son grew up in and around hot rods and hot rodders as well as oval track racers. He like I, never had a shot at becoming president. Hell, we loved hot rodding too much to even consider it. We've given rides to a number of kids over the years.
I took four neighbor kids, girls ages 10, 9, 5, and 5, on separate ten block rides around the 'hood just yesterday. The 10 year old and one of the 5 year olds seemed more concerned about their hair getting messed up than anything else where the 9 year old and the other 5 year old were really into it. They were waving at pedestrians and yelling "COOL" !!
I was at a car show here locally. A mentally challenged man came up to my car and crawled all over it checking it out. The lady that was with him was talking to me about how much he loved it. I offered to let him sit in it. He jumped in and was blown away. She said it made his day. That in turn made my day. My sister is mentally challenged. Its hard sometimes on the family taking care of them, but they are the most loving people on the planet. I guess that guy was hooked after he sat in my ride.
when I was around 8 or so the guy across the street had a 60's nova,6 cylinder,and he took me up and down the driveway..doing burnouts in it,I thought that was a blast! I've given people rides in my cars,there excited..but I don't see them into cars.
The Jalopy Journal
